6. Position of an article in a sentence

Each of the articles – a, an, the – can be used before a countable noun. Unlike a and an, the article the can come before an uncountable noun. The three articles are commonly used to begin a sentence. There are some words that can be used before the articles.

Articles before a countable noun.

The three articles are used here before a countable noun or before an adjective followed by a noun. The nouns used here are goal,priest, apple, friend, fireworks, and building.

Examples:

A last-minute goalput them through to the final. (Last-minute is an adjective.)

A priestwas called in to exorcise the ghost.

An applea day is a must after dinner.

An old friendof mine was released from prison last week.

The high-rise building was gutted by fire.

The bright meteorlit up the sky.

Article before an uncountable noun.

The is the only article that is used before an uncountable noun. It can be anywhere in a sentence except at the end. The uncountable nouns used here are butter, flesh, sand, snow, cream, and skin.

Examples:

The

butter melted in the heat.

The flesh of the fruit is white.

The sand was then mixed to the cement.

They are playing in the snow.

The sales person claimed the cream made the skin age more slowly.

We cannot use a before an uncountable noun, but we can if we have a measured quantity of the uncountable noun. For example, it's wrong to say or write a cheese. Instead, we can use a chunk/hunk/lump/piece/slice of cheese.